Organic Computing
Website for researchers

The Challenge of Complex Organization

Coming to understand the organization of goal-directed systems is a central challenge for science, technology and society in the coming decades.

After deciphering the human genome, molecular biology now has to develop concepts to understand the molecular organism of tens of thousands of genes and other types of interacting molecules before the full benefits of the great investments in molecular biology can be reaped.

Information technology sees an explosion of complexity, forming the basis for great expectations as to the functionality of computing systems. Although having already made tremendous progress with structuring large computing systems, software technology is now running into serious difficulties in keeping up with expectations. Some authors speak of a software crisis. Part of the problem is the necessary cultural change without which the algorithmic division of labor cannot be overcome.

This site intends to propagate a novel computing paradigm under the name Organic Computing and is a call to arms for a concerted intellectual effort towards a Science of Organization. Ultimately, it is a quest for understanding the complexity of Life. There are already numerous relevant activities under way on all levels of academia, industry and government, but they need to be encouraged and coordinated.

The brain is generally recognized as both computing device and organic entity. It is therefore natural to see the Neurosciences as a rich source of concepts relevant for organic computing.

We predict Organic Computing and a growing Science of Organization will come to be the capstone of science and the foundation of technology. This development will take decades. However, a first wave of organic computing structures may perhaps materialize much sooner in the domains of man-machine interfaces, artificial perception, autonomous robotics, and natural language processing. Eventually, however, this development will lead to mastery of life as a technology, to broad medical applications, to electronic organisms and perhaps even to a better understanding and management of our society and ourselves.

We invite you to participate in this movement and actively contribute to the development of Organic Computing. You may start to help by improving and enriching this web site, and by making suggestions for the definition of a collaborative project.